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Satan – Who Is He?

by Chris Simmons

The only thing worse than being in a battle with a formidable foe who intends to destroy you is being in such a battle, and having such a foe, and not even being aware of it. The Bible clearly indicates that we are in such a battle with such a foe (II Corinthians 10:3-5). Peter admonishes us in I Peter 5:8, “Be of sober spirit, be on the alert. Your adversary, the devil, prowls about like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” Who is this enemy and adversary? There are several terms and designations for our enemy which helps us to understand who he is and what he seeks to do. We need to know!

First, we read of the commonly known name of the devil used numerous times in God’s word. One such occurrence is in Revelation 12:9, “And the great dragon was thrown down, the serpent of old who is called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world; he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him.” The word “devil” is from the Greek word “diabolos” which means to be a slanderer or a false accuser, and carries with it the idea of speaking in a malicious manner in order to malign someone. Our opponent is a slanderous accuser and we read in God’s word that he spends his time accusing in two different ways.

First, he accuses man before God. We read of Satan accusing Job before God in Job 1:9-10 by saying that Job only served God because of how much God had blessed him and because God had protected him. Revelation 12:10 describes Satan as “the accuser of our brethren” who is said to engage in this practice “day and night” which simply means that he never quits in his efforts to accuse man of sin and unfaithfulness before God. Satan is unrelenting in his work to cause man to sin and to turn their backs on God.

Second, we need to be aware that Satan is also an accuser of God before man. We read in Genesis 3:4-5 that Satan accused God of forbidding the fruit from Adam and Eve in order to keep them from becoming like God. When bad things happen in our lives, we can be tempted to blame God for whatever unfortunate or undesirable circumstances have befallen us.

Satan is also referred to simply as our adversary as noted in I Peter 5:8 above. This comes from the Greek word “antidikos” which refers to an opponent or an enemy in a legal proceeding. It is Satan’s ultimate goal to be able to stand opposed to us on the judgment day and accuse us of unrepentant and unforgiven sin. As our adversary, Peter says that Satan seeks to “devour” us which has the meaning of seeking to swallow or consume us entirely. In order to accomplish such, Peter states that Satan “prowls about like a roaring lion.” The Greek word for “prowl about” (“walketh about,” KJV & ASV) interestingly enough is the same Greek word that is used to describe “the whole round of the activities of the individual life” (Strong’s) such as is used in Ephesians 2:10 & 4:17 (among many others). Thus we can understand that the whole of Satan’s existence is the spiritual destruction of mankind. That is all he is ever concerned about – and again, he doesn’t ever quit! Peter goes on to say that having such an opponent is to be a very sobering thought just as it would be to know that there was an actual lion roaming in a park we planned to take a walk in. What should be especially sobering is that our adversary schemes and plans his attack against us in whatever stage of life we may be in (cf II Corinthians 2:11; I Timothy 5:14-15; II Timothy 2:22).

Another important designation for Satan is the father of lies.” Jesus spoke of him in John 8:44, “he was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies.” As Jesus said, “there is no truth in him” and everything he does in war against us is with the tool of deception. It would be helpful if he wore a red cape and carried a pitch fork that we could see. But his work is done under the cloak of deception and lies by Satan himself and those who do his bidding. Paul said of Satan and his followers, “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workers, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. Therefore it is not surprising if his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their deeds” (II Corinthians 11:13-15). The word “disguise” in that passage comes from a Greek word which literally means “to change in fashion or appearance” (Vines Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words). Satan’s unrelenting efforts to oppose man will come in varied forms and varied manifestations, even to the point of appearing as “servants of righteousness.”

We also read in God’s word of the designation of the destroyer.” This term comes from Revelation 9:11 where the actual Greek word is used, “They have as king over them, the angel of the abyss; his name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in the Greek he has the name Apollyon.” “Apollyon,” according to Strong’s, literally means, “the destroyer.” The false prophets spoken of in II Corinthians 11:13-15 are spoken of by Peter in II Peter 2:1-3 who warns us that there will always be those who will seek to “secretly introduce destructive heresies” which, if followed, will certainly bring upon them God’s punishment in the day of judgment (verse 9). We should all take note that W. E. Vines defines the Greek word for “destructive” (“apoleia”) as “loss of well being, not of being.” Spiritual destruction does not mean we cease to exist, but it means that we suffer the loss of having our spirit being in torment for all eternity.

In I John 2:13-14, we also read of the term the evil one in description of Satan. This term is defined by Arndt & Gingrich as “wicked, evil, bad, base, worthless, vicious, degenerate.” In the parable of the sower in Matthew chapter 13, we see how that one of Satan’s chief objectives is to keep God’s word from taking root in the hearts of man. “When anyone hears the word of the kingdom, and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart (Matthew 13:19). In a subsequent article, we will consider the means by which we overcome Satan and it will become overwhelmingly evident why “the evil one” is so desperate to keep the word of God from taking up residency in the hearts of men.

The last descriptive term for Satan that we wish to consider at this time is found in II Corinthians 4:4 where Paul describes him as the god of this world.” The word for “world” in this passage is from the Greek word “ainos” (not “kosmos”) which means “of this age and time.” In many of other passages, the term “the ruler of this world” is also used (i.e., John 12:31; 16:11) in which case the Greek word is “kosmos.” Thus Satan’s realm of rule is limited both in regards to time (that is until the day of judgment), and to locale (that is, only in regards to those things that are fleshly in nature). Satan seeks to tempt us with what he has within his rule, that is, the things of this world. That is why we are exhorted, “If then you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth (Colossians 3:1-2). That is why we are commanded, Do not love the world, nor the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh and the lust of the eyes and the boastful pride of life, is not from the Father, but is from the world. And the world is passing away, and also its lusts; but the one who does the will of God abides forever” (I John 2:15-17).

Satan is real and these designations for him should cause us to become constantly aware of the characteristics of his being. Future articles will address where Satan came from, some of the schemes and tactics of our adversary, and what God’s word says in regards to how we can overcome him.

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